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Governor Mike Beebe announced that the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, has awarded $2,043,454 in grants for projects in 33 Arkansas counties – including Franklin County – through its County Courthouse Restoration Subgrant, Historic Preservation Revitalization Grant, Certified Local Government Subgrant and Main Street Downtown Revitalization Grant programs.

Franklin County received a $154,000 County Courthouse Restoration Subgrant to restore the roof at the 1923 courthouse at Charleston. Main Street Ozark received a $10,000 Downtown Revitalization Grant for projects to benefit the city’s downtown.

Ten counties shared $1,212,656 in County Courthouse Restoration Subgrants, which are financed through Real Estate Transfer Tax funds distributed by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council for rehabilitation of historic county courthouses across Arkansas. Funding requests totaled $7,552,963.

Fourteen Main Street Arkansas programs shared $140,000 in Downtown Revitalization Grants, which are funded through the state Real Estate Transfer Tax and are available to certified Main Street programs for building rehabilitations, parks, streetscape improvements and other design-related projects that will have major long-term impacts in the local Main Street area.

Seventeen projects shared $562,199 in Historic Preservation Restoration Grants (HPRG), which distribute funds raised through the Real Estate Transfer Tax to rehabilitate buildings listed on the Arkansas or National Registers of Historic Places and owned by local governments or not-for-profit organizations. Grant requests totaled $1,254,726.

HPRG recipients, the amount of their grants, and the properties to be restored, were Bradley County Historical Museum, $24,567 to restore porches, foundation and sills at the John Martin House; Calhoun County, $20,000 for masonry restoration at the Hampton Masonic Lodge; Central Arkansas Sphinx Foundation, $10,000 for foundation joist restoration at the Bush-Dubisson House in Little Rock; City of Eureka Springs, $14,485 to restore sill logs, roof and chimney at the Harmon Park Trolley Barn; City of Little Rock, $72,000 for restoration of the Oakland Cemetery Mausoleum; City of Mena, $50,000 for roof and soffit and fascia repair at the Mena Depot, and City of Redfield, $53,333 to restore timber columns on the James Street Overpass.

Also receiving HPRGs were City of Sherwood, $78,000 to continue restoration of the Roundtop Filling Station; Cleburne County, $40,533 to restore the roof at the Heber Springs Post Office; Cross County Historical Society, $10,000 to continue restoration at the New Hope School; Eureka Springs Historical Museum, $10,000 for water diversion at the Samuel Calif Building; Prairie County, $37,680 for masonry and window restoration at the former First Presbyterian Church; Rogers Historical Museum, $10,000 for window restoration at the former Rogers Post Office; Saint Paul A.M.E. Church, $19,667 for roof and window restoration at Saint Paul A.M.E. Church in Morrilton; Stone County, $66,666 to restore decking and bolts on the Sylamore Creek Bridge; Town of Chester, $10,000 for window restoration and electrical upgrades at the Masonic Lodge and Community Building, and Women’s Literary Club, $35,268 for environmental systems and handicapped accessibility at the former First Presbyterian Church in Van Buren.

Fourteen recipients shared $128,599 in grants through the AHPP’s Certified Local Government program, which is open to Arkansas cities and counties that contain a historic district commission and a historic district protected by a local ordinance, as well as to cities and counties that are seeking to join the CLG program. These grants provide training opportunities to local historic district commissions and can fund other local preservation projects. At least 10 percent of the AHPP’s annual appropriation from the federal Historic Preservation Fund goes to CLG cities as grants for local projects. Grant requests totaled $172,655.

CLG grant recipients were Benton, which received $9,500 for training and design guidelines; Conway, which received $6,000 for training; El Dorado, which received $8,312 for administration and training; Eureka Springs, which received $6,000 for training; Fayetteville, which received $8,515 for training and website modifications; Fort Smith, which received $4,758 for training, and Hot Springs, which received $13,500 for training outreach on building codes.

Other CLG grant recipients were Little Rock, which received $18,523 for training, updated design guidelines, and education and outreach in the Dunbar School Neighborhood Historic District; Morrilton, which received $14,800 for training, administration and evaluation and assessment of the Morrilton Commercial Historic District; North Little Rock, which received $7,972 for administration and training; Osceola, which received $6,000 for training; Rogers, which received $12,719 for administration, training and updated design guidelines; Texarkana, which received $6,000 for training, and Van Buren, which received $6,000 for training.

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is the agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage responsible for identifying, evaluating, registering and preserving the state’s cultural resources. Other agencies are the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and the Historic Arkansas Museum.